Refugees

In Tunisia, the first decade of democratization did not lead to an expansion of migrant rights. Despite initial attempts to replace the restrictive policies inherited from the authoritarian regime of Ben Ali, domestic and international forces ultimately put breaks on liberal migration reform.

The chapter of the coalition agreement of the new German government on integration, migration and flight is highly ambitious. What changes does it set out at EU policy level?

Whilst the national governments have been reflexively ducking responsibility for years, there are many cities in Europe, from London to Munich and Vienna to Lille, Barcelona and Lisbon, that are expressing solidarity and a readiness to take in refugees.

The launch of the “Moving Cities" website on 21 October 2021 is a clear indication of how much dynamic power cities and communes are generating in the hosting and integration of refugees.

More than a year after the European Commission tabled the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, negotiations are at a standstill, while the number of asylum seekers arriving in the Union is sharply increasing. The Afghan crisis has made apparent the absence of uniform and coordinated responses by EU Member States.

In recent days, there has been a lot of talk in the EU about an emerging “wave of refugees” or “migration disaster”. However, the real disaster is the failure of Western governments to rescue people from Afghanistan who deserve our protection, the Director of our office in Brussels, Eva van de Rakt, comments.

Just days after Taliban violently seized control of Afghanistan, the Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis, has warned of a repeat of the situation in 2015 and announced that Greece will not be the “gateway to Europe for illegal Afghan migrants”.

This short sentence is all you need to understand why the German government committed an error of judgment concerning Afghanistan. An error of judgment that kills people every day – and democracy throughout the world as well, by the way.